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White says Johny Hendricks likely earns title shot with UFC 158 win

UFC President Dana White today said once-beaten Johny Hendricks (14-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) would likely earn a shot at the title should he look impressive at the event against Jake Ellenbeger (28-6 MMMA, 7-2 UFC).

"I'd have to say if Johny Hendricks looks good and wins his fight, it will probably be Hendricks (next)," White said.

UFC 158 takes place March 16 at Montreal's Bell Centre. St-Pierre vs. Diaz headlines with Hendricks and Ellenberger also meeting on the pay-per-view main card. Today's comments were made at a pre-event press conference promoting the event.

There are some who believe Hendricks should have been the one fighting St-Pierre at UFC 158. After all, the 29-year-old currently boasts a five-fight win streak that includes knockout victories of perennial contenders Martin Kampmann and Jon Fitch. Meanwhile, Diaz was defeated by Carlos Condit in February 2012 and has since been sidelined while serving an NSAC-ordered suspension after failing a post-fight drug screen.

St-Pierre, who openly lobbied for the fight with Diaz, is not among those people.

"I think for me Nick Diaz is the No. 1 contender," St-Pierre said. "He's proven himself many times before. There's a story between us. It's a big fight everyone wants to see.

"Nick wanted that fight for a long time, and I wanted to have that fight for a long time. Now it's time to do it."

St-Pierre and Diaz, of course, were supposed to fight in late 2011 before the challenger no-showed a pair of promotional events and was pulled from the card. That didn't keep him from trashtalking the champion in later interviews, which is a primary reason St-Pierre is so insistent on the matchup.

However, St-Pierre also points to Hendricks' razor-thin split-decision win over Josh Koscheck as a reason he does not deserve top-contender status.

"Johny Hendricks, when I watched the fight with Josh Koscheck, according to me, Josh Koscheck should have won that fight, so I didn't want to fight a guy that lost to a guy I already beat," St-Pierre said.

But all of that doubt could be erased should Hendricks down Ellenberger in UFC 158's co-main event.

Of course, in the ever-changing world of the UFC where timing often dictates opportunities as much as anything else, White said that scenario is simply the most likely and not a guarantee.

"Who knows?" White asked. "We'll see what happens."

GSP Didn’t Want to Fight Johny Hendricks Because He Believes He Lost to Josh Koscheck

“It’s different reasons why – first, Nick and I were supposed to fight before, and this is the fight everybody wants to see. This is the big fight people wanted to see. People wanted to see this fight more than me fighting any other guys,” St-Pierre said.

The other reason St-Pierre says he opted for Diaz was because of Johny Hendricks’ 2012 performance against Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3. In that fight, Hendricks pulled out a close split decision victory, but St-Pierre believes the fight should have gone the other way.

The Canadian wasn’t as interested in facing Hendricks, who he believes lost to an opponent he’s already bested twice in the Octagon.

“My other option was Johny Hendricks and Johny Hendricks, when I watched the fight with Josh Koscheck, according to me Josh Koscheck should have won that fight, so I didn’t want to fight a guy that lost to a guy I beat,” said St-Pierre.

“I think for me Nick Diaz is the No. 1 contender. He’s proven himself many times before, and there is a story between us. It’s a big fight everybody wants to see. Nick wanted to have that fight for a long time. I wanted to have that fight for a long time. Now it’s time to do it.”

As for Johny Hendricks, who now squares off with Jake Ellenberger at the same card in Montreal this March, he will likely get the next shot at the champion assuming he comes away victorious. Like anything else in the UFC, it’s not a guarantee, but right now Hendricks is leading the pack of contenders.

“I would have to say the Johny Hendricks thing, if Johny Hendricks looks good and wins his fight, it will probably be Hendricks,” said UFC president Dana White. “But then again who knows, we’ll see what happens that night.”

GSP is going down that path of being dishonest to justify his own illegitimate decisions. I really don't like it. Dana turning MMA into WWE is forcing fighters to make stupid comments to defend themselves and its making MMA look even more ridiculous as of late.

The way I see it If Matt Hughes used that outlook GSP wouldn't of got the chance to win the belt from him. With DW's comment he seems to be learning PR a little better with we'll see what happens. Johnnys earned it already for sure just hope he doesn't make a mistake that night.

If Johny Hendricks beats Ellenberger, that's 4 straight guys in the top 7, so obviously he deserved the shot. He deserved the shot after he beat Koscheck, solidified it by KOing Kampmann. Even if he squeaks by Ellenberger, he still deserves it.

Also, if GSP believes in his logic, he is hypocritical. He thought Condit beat Diaz, so doesn't that mean he's now willing to face a guy (Diaz) who lost to the guy he beat (Condit)?

I have less than zero respect for anything Dana says especially anything involving #1 contendership. I buy every UFC ppv, but because of all the screw jobs as of late, I will not be buying any more. That actually hurts to say, but im not gonna feed any more money to an organization that is in my opinion ruining a sport that I love.